Hotel California is on the muzak here at the Alley 9 Guest House in Chiang Mai, and I'm shocked. We've heard this song many, many times since we landed in Thailand, but usually by everyone but the Eagles. And when it's not a cover version of Hotel California, it's either Jack Johnson, Tracy Chapman or Bob Marley. Everywhere. We thought maybe Jack was just a beach thing, but no. Even way up north it's Jack Jack Jack Jack and more Jack. They *love* Jack Johnson in Thailand. I wonder if he knows that. And there is a deep love for Mr. Marley here, too. Last night we found a bar called Babylon and it was thoroughly rasta-ed, and the band played truly excellent versions of some of Bob's best. In the bar before that it was a Jack Johnson DVD, but it was cool to see some shots of the Greek Theater in Berkeley. It reminded me that one of the things I'm really missing here is live music. But there's plenty of other things to keep us occupied. Today we rented a motor-scooter and cruised around the Old City part of Chiang Mai. It was a lot of fun, but a little hairy, too. Driving is intense here, and that it's opposite of the US makes things even more tricky. There were periods of rain, too and that only increased my concerns. All went well, though, and it was a ton of fun to zip in and out of the little sois (small sidestreets) with Lu clinging to my shoulders, the Nancy Chandler Map pressed against my back.

Between Chiang Mai and Bangkok there was a stop in Aythuya. That's old capital of Thailand (and by old they mean like two thousand years ago or something.) Lots of old, ruined wats that were amazing to explore, and then at night they light them up and it makes their shapes and shadows even more spectacular. That was pretty much the only good thing about Aythuya, though. I have a feeling that the translated name of that city would be Divine City of Giant, Endless mosquito's and Home of the Six Thousand Stray, Feral and Fearless Dogs on the Banks of the Muddiest Rivers in All of Mudtown. Definitely not the Divine Gem that is Bangkok and the utter coolness of Chiang Mai. If Bangkok is comparable to NYC, then Chiang Mia is more like Boston or SF, and Aythuya is sorta Bridgeporty, CT in nature.

Our time in Thailand is quickly coming to an end, for now, though. We've still got about a week left before it's time to head to Laos. Tomorrow we are going trekking south of the city. Gonna see some waterfalls, ride the river on a bamboo raft, hang with some elephants and then wander through a hilltribe community. Some go for longer and stay overnight with the hilltribes, but we're only making a day of it. After that it's 2 days at an elephant Conservation Center, then back here for the weekend and then it's Laos-time. Just as we're finally getting comfortable it's time to shake it up again!!

Lu is off a yoga for a while, and I'm heading over to a bar and to chill out and read. Picked up a copy of Ratner's Star by Don DeLillo this afternoon and I'm eager to get going on it. I already finished the three books I brought along, and so for the last few days I've been bookless. Instead, on the overnight trainride I read Utne Magazine and we played many many hands of Rummy 500 (Lu kicks my ass repeatedly at cards, but I did win one, finally, last night. Although there's a chance she threw it just to keep me from getting grumpy. :-)

Did a doublepost this time 'cause I had some time, so the one below is new, too. Enjoy!

On our backs we carry our things. They are the only things we have and we depend on them every day, all day. Some of them are barely more than necessary burdens, while others are a joy to hold, use and rely on. So far our towels are the two things that are just barely hanging on. They're heavy, they don't dry out very well, most places we stay provide towels at no charge, but every now and then the towels we carry have been so essential that we hesitate to toss them aside. As we get deeper in the rustic world of Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam they will be truly put to the test. Either they will save our lives again, or they will vanish.

The videocamera is definitely a burden, but it is one I love to no end. I never leave it out of sight. I carry it in the drysack, in my backpack every day, all day and every time we go out at night. I was able to leave it at our friend Jeanne's place in the evenings in Bangkok, which was nice, but leaving it behind in a guest room anywhere else seems utterly foolish to me. The iPods stay in the camera case, too, because I refuse to let them sit in the room where they could easily be stolen. The iPods save our life every single morning because the noise in every single city, town or village we've been to is absolutely unreal. 7am, every day, the hammering, sawing and banging begins. I believe that the Thais love to hammer just as much as they love to smile, sweep, eat and sell things. The iPods give us an extra few hours of sleep in the morning, and saved our sanity on the lengthy bus and train rides north.

The first aid kit has been opened many, many times. Lu has blisters. I have a toenail I slammed at Burning Man that is still flapping along, dying in stages. Pepto tablets have helped with some food issues I've been having recently, and the bandaids cover the scratches we received dumping hard as we pulled onto the shore in a kayak in Tonsai. The people watching it happen didn't even blink, but if any of you had been there you would have howled in laughter at the spin-dump-crush move we pulled. It was awesome.

I love my Leatherman Multi-tool. If not for the Leatherman, climbing would have never happened. For the last few months Lu has not been able to remove her engagement ring. But we weren't allowed to climb if we had any rings on our fingers. They were worried that a ring could get caught in a rock, and, well, I'll just let you imagine the rest. Luckily the Leatherman was in my daypack, as it always is, and we finally got that ring off with a little help from the pliers.

Headlamps were the only thing that let us get back from Raylay East to Tonsai Beach in the dark over the top through the jungle route. After our snorkel trip the tide was all the way in, so the easy way back was neck-deep in water and pitch black.

We've made a few purchases here, and all of them are great: a digital clock that's built into a clip I attach to a belt-loop, a sarong for each of us, and extremely light and comfortable fisherman pants. The sarongs are awesome and have just about replaced the towels. We use them as blankets on the bus, things to lay on at the beach and even as simple sheets when sleeping.

We brought from home silk sleeping bag inserts and they are perfect for the nights. Light enough to breathe, but a nice cover against the breeze of the fan. Obviously our rain-coats have been useful, but luckily it only seems to rain for a little while every now and then and really has not stopped us from having a ton of fun.

But talking about the rain brings up one part of the trip that has been somewhat difficult, and that is that all of our stuff is moist. It's much better now than it was 2 weeks ago, but even up here the rain and humidity makes everything we have slightly damp. Back at the beach it was more than just damp. Us and all of our things were soaked, endlessly. Woke up sweaty, walked through town in a warm drizzle, went swimming, dried briefly in the sun before evening rolled in and the humid night descended. We've used the laundry services many times, but in Tonsai even the laundry couldn't completely remove the slight mildew scent of moist, used clothes. Finally in Bangkok we dried out completely and got everything cleaned, fresh and new, before hitting the road again. Right now clothes are being laundered and we're hopeful that they will smell clean and delicious when we pick them up tomorrow.

The things we carry on our backs have allowed us to have all the fun we have had. We couldn't do this without their help. I've only scratched the surface of what we use and carry. It feels really good to be totally self-sufficient. To have what we need to do what we want. The pouch around our waists that hides our passport and money, and then the other one we also wear with the few bhat we need ready at a moment's notice. The hated bug repellent with 28% deet that without we would be a mass of itchy bites. Flipflops and Crocs. The Thailand book we consult eight-seven times a day. Our sunglasses (lost my first pair in Tonsai, now I have 2 pairs, the everyday one and the backup). Journals, safety pins, the Camelbak day packs that are endlessly fascinating to the locals.

I keep a running tally of what I use most, what I love best, what I hate most, what I only put up with and what is an utter luxury. Right now it's time to go revel in an utter luxury. I never begrudge the weight of the books I carry. I could get by without them, but their presence, what they contain, bring me almost as much joy as the amazing sights we see every day. Of the needed things, though, there is one item that stands far above the rest: wet naps. We brought 4 bags of them, we're down to two, have not seen them for sale anywhere and have begun a careful, careful rationing process. Each batch is now cut in two, and if we can make it to the end with even one wetnap for the plane ride home, then we will truly be traveler heros.

Bangkok is crazy. I've never been anyplace like it. New York City is close, but far tamer, more organized and utterly understandable compared to the mish-mash madness of this City of Angels. (that's what Bangkok is called. It also has an official name of 15 thai words with 43 syllables, and translation of those words (the title above) makes it clear that the people who named it think this city is pretty much the absolute best, beautiful, holy and most totally awesome place on the planet, and in the history of human-kind.) I'm not sure about all that, but I will tell you that Bangkok rocks. We've had a blast here and it was a true eye-opener to see a city built out of a culture and history that is vastly different than that which we are used to in the US. NYC is a crazy, busy place. Bangkok is crazier and busier. In NYC and other US cities there are rules. Zoning rules, sanitation rules, codes and requirements for construction, licenses for ownership and accountability for businesses and individuals. Here in this city of the Highest Royal Dwelling and Grand Palace, anything goes.

There is food everywhere, at all times of the day. Thais eat for fun, and snack all day long. Food vendors carts line every street, and I've seen every kind of dried sea-food imaginable, from the tiniest fish to huge ones to squids and octopi the size of my arm. There are ultra-modern highrises right smack next to an outdoor shrine to the Buddha where traditional Thai dancers welcome hordes of worshippers offering flowers and incense, which is also right next to tiny shacks at the edge of a canal with rusty corrugated steel walls drooping into the water below. In Chinatown the tiny alleys are packed with shoppers and workers as guys drive through on motorbikes, the rack behind them stacked high above their heads with another thirty boxes of shoes to be delivered to a shoe store where there are already enough shoes to cover the soles of a whole town, right next door to fifteen other shoe-shops, all of them bursting to the seams with footwear. I've never seen this happen before, but Lu was over-shoed. I sat on a chair on the curb, Chang beer in hand, mouth agape, as the insanity flowed by and Lu checked out one of the bazillion shoe-stores. I expected her to come out with five pairs of sandals, three flip-flops and some boots. Instead she came out in a daze, empty-handed.

"It's too much! There's too many! I don't even know where to begin!" she told me, and once again, I was amazed at what this city could do to people.

We passed through a variety of 'districts' yesterday as we walked around. The 'Spare-Parts District', the 'Bags District', the 'Shoe District', the 'Buddha District', the 'Annoying Tourist District', and of course the 'Doors and Wood District'. It was insanity! And it forced us to ask a number of questions. The most important of which is how the hell does anyone decide which 'Bag' shop to buy from when there are 30 Bag Shops in a row, and all of them have the exact same large, white rice-bags for sale? Then even beyond that, how in the name of capitalism is there enough of a market to support the sale of nineteen gazillion large, white rice-bags? If you pulled out the contents of every Bag Store on the block, you could wrap every human on the planet in a brand new large, white rice-bag. Visually, though, the 'Spare Parts District' was the most stunning. We turned a corner and happened upon this street where garage after garage contains an enormous pile of one particular spare-part for a vehicular engine. Washers, axles, bolts, rims, chains, gears, pistons, garage after garage piled high with a different part and grungy-grease covered kids out front banging the crap out of some metal form to dislodge the piece they needed to add to their pile. Eventually we came to the end of the block, and there I saw the source of all of this. A few guys were unloading a crusty engine block from the back of a pickup with the help of a small forklift and some chains. I saw the engine touch the ground and then I realized how it would go. This first garage would pull off the pistons, then pass it on down the line until it had become completely disassembled into every component part, its pieces diffused throughout the district, down to the smallest nut and bolt. And then, on the other side, someone would show up needing a new engine and piece by piece it would be reformed, recreated, shined and fine-tuned, assembled into a brand new engine that would power one of the many forms of transport available here in this Royal Capital City Full of Nine Noble Gems.

We've taken almost every form of transport available. The three we have yet to ride are the subway, a tuk-tuk and a motorbike. We've ridden busses, the Airtrain (elevated train), cabs, river ferry, river taxi, and the canal taxi. There's a lot of boating around in this city, and the people are deft boarding and disembarking. Which means that the canal taxi pulls up at the dock in a spray of water and then everyone essentially leaps on board as others leap off, and in less that 15 seconds the boat is pulling away again, loud. But it's only 10 bhat, which is about three US cents, and that fare will take us clear across the city, albeit sprayed with nasty canal water and covered in the deep stench of diesel fuel exhaust. By car, boat and train we have explored a great deal of the city and around every corner is another amazing sight. The colorful 'wats' burst upward with tall pillars covered in intricate mosaics. The temple roofs gleam hot and red in the afternoon sun. Skyscrapers of glass reflect the low-slung shacks of neighborhoods as the Skytrain rushes by silently. Cars honk and busses rumble, tuk-tuk drivers cajole us with questions of our next destinations, but we ignore them because often tuk-tuk rides result in a scam of one sort or another. People here are incredibly nice and very helpful whenever we ask, but we know that whenever a stranger approaches us, they are probably looking for the bhat in our pocket. Regular Thai are too polite to bother us about anything.

However, of all the amazing sights and experiences in this city, it was returning to our friend's house where we are staying, and then turning on the Internet 3 nights ago that was truly the most astounding. I'd read about some of the corruption claims concerning the former Prime Minister Thaskin in the days leading up to our departure. But I had no idea the depth and breadth of the political crisis occurring in Thailand during the last year. PM Thaskin has been preventing elections from happening for the last year, and the events of what just transpired are the direct result of that. We were out all day and had no idea anything was brewing. But then, the next morning we were out walking and found ourselves only steps away from some of the tanks that were all over the news the night before. There were many Thai out taking pictures of the tanks, and there were soldiers everywhere, all of them with large machine guns. Around the barrel, though, was a ribbon of yellow that signified they all still supported the King. Clearly, the generals that initiated the coup to oust the Prime Minister had the blessing of the King. On Wednesday night Lu and I attended a panel discussion at the Foreign Correspondents Club where our friend who we are staying with works. It was enlightening to hear the various reasons for the coup, the factions, the problems it was supposed to address, and how things might go in the coming days, weeks, years. Thailand has had many coups over the years. I believe it's somewhere around 15 or 18. That we were here for the latest one, and got to hear and see first-hand the details of the event, is eye-opening. I was tense strolling the streets 2 days ago. It was scary to have so many guns all around. But I am definitely excited to have had the opportunity to see something so fascinating and historical. Of course, the fact that it was bloodless and no one was injured is the only reason I can enjoy this experience. If it had gone down any other way it would have been terrifying to be here. Luckily, instead Lu and I have had an amazing, exciting, adventurous time here in the city of Divine Shelter and Living Place of Reincarnated Spirits.

Now, it is time to go buy train tickets for Chiang Mai, pick up our visas for Vietnam, and then find a happy street vendor and get another crazy-spicy thai dish, with a Chang beer, of course.

Since our last posts, we've stayed in many places and had tons of new adventures. We've gotten used to the cold showers, bare bungalows, and damp clothes (rain plus humidity equals mildew). We find each new place more endearing then the next - even when we find huge spiders, no toilet paper or sink, and the constant hammering every morning at 7am (construction is a constant so far on every island and beach).

The second place we stayed at in Ko Phi Phi was an awesome (but pricey) bungalow on Relax Beach. It cost us $700 baht a night, but it was very private. We really were the only ones there for like 3 days straight. People came and went, but we really lived there those days. We spent a rainy afternoon chilling at the restaurant just playing games, eating and drinking beers. We hung with all the people who worked there. It was heaven. Who needs the sun anyway? We decided to finally pay our tab and move on. And move on we did.

Next up was a ferry ride to Krabi, a cute little town that we really did not get to see because it was pouring rain the whole time. We did find a little, old, wooden guest house right at the pier for really cheap. This cost us $150 baht a night. This room was basically just a really hard bed and the bathroom was down the rickety old stairs. We definitely did not use the shower there (scary!) The only thing we liked about this place was that there was an awesome night market (delicious, cheap, authentic thai food) right out front and it was also convenient to our long tail that would take us over to Railay beach in the morning.

So 13 of us piled into a longtail and headed to Railay beach. We loved it there. Stepping onto the beach, we were not bombarded by guys trying to get us to stay at their guesthouse (like in Ko Phi Phi). It was so chill over here - we loved it. Our mission was to get over to Hat Ton Sai which was the next beach over. The only problem was there was only 2 ways over there - climbing over the rocks at low tide, and climbing up and over the mountain through the jungle. While Chris went over through the jungle to check it out, I got a wonderful foot massage on the beach. An hour (and pouring rain) later, Chris made it back with the news that we just couldn't get over there with our big backpacks that night. The trek was too tough, especially in the rain, and the tide wouldn't be low for hours. So back up the beach we went and found a very cute bungalow for $300 baht. This one had a nice bed, decent bathroom (still a cold shower) and was surrounded by jungle. It would have to do. We went out that night and found a strip of bars up the other end of the beach that we did not know were there. We met some cool people and had a really great night. There have been tons of Israeli's on all the islands and we came to find out that there are tons of young Israeli's travelling right now because they just finished their army service of 3 years.

We hung with Pete - a nice young british guy, and Nir and Karen, 2 Israeli's on their honeymoon as well. We got into lots of politics and it was amazing to interact with others who have a completely different point of view of the world, based on where they live - but who we also have so much in common with at the same time. Also, Chris and I needed to meet others at this point, we needed to add some new conversation to the mix!

At the crack of dawn, we hightailed it out of our bungalow to make low tide and get ourselves over to Ton Sai. What a crazy path we had to take with our backpacks! Very challenging, but so rewarding to have finally made it over. We made it just as the rain came pouring down yet again. Finally we found our new home, bungalows in the jungle with a huge king size bed under an awesome mosquito canopy and the average bathroom with a cold shower. All for just $150 baht a night! We loved it.

We spent 4 glorious days at Ton Sai. It was just the paradise we needed. We went kayaking, on a 4 island snorkeling trip (saw black tipped reef sharks, a squid, tons of colorful fish and amazing coral), did lots of hiking back and forth through the jungle and over the rocks at low tide, and best of all, we did some rock climbing. Ton Sai is known far and wide for its rock climbing - how could we not try this? We headed to Wee's rock climbing school and spent the afternoon with Nui and Nuing and yeah, it was the hardest thing i've ever done but at the same time, exhilarating! My 3rd climb I was going to give up, it was so hard and so high and I was so tired. But there were so many people cheering me on and Chris was my belay and I trusted he would keep me safe, so I ventured further and further up. I didn't make it to the top, but I was so close and so proud of myself. What a day!

We had sunset drinks with our new friends, I got a massage of course to help with my aching muscles and then it was time for bed. We had our last night at Ton Sai, spent the morning saying goodbye to new friends and headed off to Ao Nang to catch our bus for the 13 hour bus ride to Bangkok.

As I write this, sitting at my aunt trix's friend Jeanne's place in Bangkok, we come to find out that Bangkok is in a state of emergency. Weird news to get after spending the day all over the city. But we are fine, and things are great and we had a fabulous day. I will let Chris give the details in his next post. Just know we are safe!!!

and of course, its pouring rain.

I sat on the beach and read a book, and it was glorious.

I've been waiting for that for a long time, and it was everything I hoped it was. The beach was sandy white. The water was aqua-marine blue and brilliant. The cliffs in the distance were verdant with palms and other trees perched atop steep cliffs that blazed in the sun. White, puffy clouds drifted across the endless sky, and I sat below the slightly moldy umbrella and read. There were a lot of other people around, and every now and then a motorboat would zoom by with someone attached to a rope with a parachute above them. Now and then Lu would pipe up with facts and information about the island of Ko Phi Phi we lounged on, or tell me about the places we intended to see in the coming days. Krabi, Ko Phanang, Vientienne, Ko Samui. The shape of the words fumbled through my mouth as I tried to picture geography they were attached to. And then I went back to reading.

When the sun was still low in the east we found our seats. I opened the cover of the novel Amsterdam by Ian Mcewan. I read the praise. I read the dedication. I read the copyright date and the title page and then I began the story. The sun crept upward, our shadows shortened. We bought beers from the bar and brought them back to our spot. Noon slipped by as we sipped and the tide peaked, crashing lightly before us before beginning its slow slide out as the afternoon drifted on. And still I read. Lu went off for a massage after lunch. The tide pulled back hundreds of feet revealing coral and rocks and critters and crabs. It was our first day on the beach and I sat there through all of it, throughly engrossed in the novel, and thoroughtly entranced by the rhythms of the world around me. Just as the sun finally found respite behind the majestic cliffs before me I found the few remaing pages beneath my right hand. The story ended. The sun lit the sky crimson, pink and purple. The bays' beautiful waters were as far away from the beach as they would go, and I sighed in utter contentment as I closed the novel's covers, took a final sip of beer and went searching through the touristy warrens for my now-long-missing wife.

We found each other a little while later with the help of walkie-talkies, but the awesomeness of Ko Phi Phi was transforming as night fell. This wasn't the secluded retreat we were looking for. Bars pumped techo as all the weekend tourists appeared dressed to club, dressed for The Scene. We didn't want A Scene. We wanted scenery and silence. After an over-priced dinner we found tour shop and asked about quietness. They recommended Relax Beach Resort on the other side of the island. It sounded perfect so we booked a boat for the following morning.

Checking out in the AM was quick and easy, but we only had a little while before our long-tail boat left. With only an hour to spare we raced around the market buying the things we knew we'd need: water, beers, sarongs. Everything else we had on our backs. The long-tail ride across the bay and around the bend was exhilirating. And old Thai man steered us through the motorboat wakes and quickly we left the bustle of the pier behind us. Only twenty short minutes later we pulled into a cove of utter serenity. A big, open house with tables sat next to a chill little open-air bar. We were greeted with typical Thai warmness and shown to our bugalow a few steps away. Our porch had a bench. Within was a large bed covered by a mosquito net. A few shelves lay bare for our possessions. A toilet and shower was in the small room at the back. It was perfect. Within moments we had shed our packs and were back on the beach, this time utterly alone, perched in hammocks just above scuttling crabs.

Sitting there swinging softly in the sun, I was struck by how we were succumbing to the rhythms of nature. We woke early. We were asleep only a few hours after sunset. We told time by our shadows, by the ebb of the tide, by the rumblings of our bellies. It felt so good. I was thrilled to be away from tourists lumbering through the barely rebuilt streets of the tiny town near the pier. I was thrilled to be nearly alone on the beach with my wife, the staff, and a few other travelers. This was what we were looking for. This was gentle sway and easy breeze of hammock and heat and silence we were searching for

I laid back in the hammock, savoring. "Savor it Lu!" I called to her, where she swung on a hammock of her own. Her reply was only a smile. I closed my eyes behind my sunglasses and laid back, then remembered the incredible vista before me and opened them to take it in. Scanning the horizon filled only with clouds and distant islands, I chuckled softly to myself, and then opened up another book, ready again to delve into new worlds as I relished the majesty of the true world around me. We had made it. We were free.

Sawadee!
Its been exactly a week since we were heading out of black rock city and making our way to our new destination here on Ko Phi Phi island in S.W. Thailand. I remember telling Chris that in a week we'd be laying on the beach and getting foot massages. That much is definitely true. Today, we finally got to sit on chairs at the most gorgeous beach I've ever seen, read our books, take a dip every 1/2 hour or so and then of course top it all off with a Thai massage and foot rub.

I'll start at the beginning of our journey but I'll make it quick. I'd rather be eating a delicious Thai meal then sitting at this internet cafe too long. The few days we had in between the playa and the airplane were full of errands. We had a long list and for sure checked it over and over and made sure we had everything. It was both hectic and exciting. We packed amidst friends coming over to say goodbye. Focusing was hard, but the job got done. Of course I spent my last few minutes furiously uploading music onto my new ipod. I'm such the procrastinator. Anyway, we were off to the airport on Wed evening, Sept 6. Our flights were long but the food was really good - we both agreed China airlines was better then any American flight we've ever taken. I particulary loved the purple decor and flight attendant outfits.

We reached the airport in Bangkok after about 30 hours of traveling. Tired and hungry, we chose to go with one of the travel desk excursion packages (and this was not a quick decision by any means). This package included flights to Phuket, really nice hotel for one night, then 2 nights at a nice place in Ko Phi Phi, all taxi and ferry rides and breakfast every morning. We called my aunt's friend Jeanne in Bangkok to be reassured we were getting a good deal and then jumped on it quick.

By the end of our 3rd flight, we were so happy to not have to think anymore, at this point, we knew we made the right choice. We arrived at our hotel called Sunset Beach which was in Ha Kalim, a beach near Patong on the island of Phuket. This island was hit hard by the tsunami, but it looked like most of it had been rebuilt. We quickly ate our usual favorite dishes except for really spicy soup that we just couldn't handle. We're still in the learning stages. After that, we went promptly to bed. We woke early to do a bit of exploring and then were taxied to the 2 hour ferry to the Island of Ko Phi Phi. This island had pretty much been destroyed. There are still many signs of the destruction everywhere. Amid all the piles of garbage and whatnot, it is really just a beautiful beautiful island. It just happens to be a very touristy destination and there are tons of people here.

We love our cottage up in the hills which we get to stay in for one more night. It has A/C which is a bonus. We spent the whole day just lounging at the beach. It is definitely paradise. Oh, and the coolest part- the tide goes way way out, you can walk out on all the coral and rocks and its just the most amazing thing. We got a fishes view of what really goes on down there when covered by ocean. I think it may be my favorite part. Except for the amazing Thai massage I got today.

So we discovered some packing errors, not too bad but some things we really did not need. Too much shampoo, no cord for the ipod, heavy towels. I do think I packed well anyway though my backpack is heavier then I'd like. I'm sure I'll be leaving some things along the way. We are just about to go eat some yummy Thai food (yep, not sick of it yet!) and get some drinks and meet some other tourists.

we'll try to add some pix next time....

The Man burned and we cheered.

It was an incredible week. Truly epic in all ways. Epic weather, epic art, epic struggles and epic joy. That's the only way it goes in Black Rock City. We experienced a windstorm/whiteout the likes of which I have never envisioned. We also had some of the nicest weather possible in a desert setting. I saved some lives, I risked my own, I kissed the playa, I worked my ass off. Every day there requires effort, concentration, planning and forethought. You cannot forget for a moment that you are in a truly extreme environment. If you're having too much fun for even a few hours and forget to drink water you will soon become listless and irritable, followed soon after by nausea, dizziness and eventually, death. Salt is vital, too, and if you just drink water but do not eat salty foods, you put yourself just as much at risk as not drinking water at all. And really, there's nothing worse than telling someone over and over that they must drink more water and have some Pringles when they are nauseous and pissed off. But I'm good at being a pain in the ass and in the end, the few I had to help thanked me for it after they felt better.

Lu saved my life, too. I was feeling shitty and she just kept hammering away at me to drink more water, and in a few hours, I was back in good form. That's the key to surviving and enjoying Burning Man. You gotta help each other out, every step of the way.

There's so much more to tell, and I will get to all of it eventually. For now just let me say that the company was incredible, the art was mind-blowing and sublime, the love and hope conquered the fear and anger, and just thinking about the amazing experience we had brings me to tears every time.

I dreamt of the playa last night. I will for a long, long time. And someday far in the future when I die, I hope heaven looks exactly like Black Rock City lit up at night with all the crazy thoughts of humans made real and laid out for exploration. My only requests would be an oasis of tropical water just down the road, and an inability to be bruised.